THE AMKRICAX IJOTANIST 131 



1 could easily add other authoritie> hut I hardly sui)p()sc vou 

 >eriously douht it". 



PuccooN AM) Maush Km)I-;r. — kegarding^ the iiKjuiry as 

 to the significance of the word puccoon, Mrs. M. E. Soth 

 writes: "1 helieve it is the Indian word for any [)lant from 

 the root of which a reddish dye may he ohtained as the IJtlid- 

 sf'cniiiiii! and also the hloodroot ; also the pigment itself. The 

 hooks gi\e "marsh elder" as the common name of /:'(/ xantli- 

 fi'lia huL I ne\ er heard it called that. We alwa^'s called it 

 "horse-weed ' in Iowa hecause it was so lustv and ahundant 

 in |)laces where horses were wont to he found. We \'oung- 

 >ters called it "spear-weed" hecause its shining leafless trunks 

 made such light, straight, shooting darts after frost shrivelled 

 the leaves. It is interesting to note that it diminishes in size 

 as it traxels westward. In Colorado it is only half as high as 

 eastward. Here in Idaho it is scarceh- a yard high, a mere 

 relic of its glorious condition in the l^ast. 



Woodless Li'mbkk. — .\ccording to Science Sczicc a 



hoard tweKe feet wide antl nine hundred feet long has recentl}' 

 heen produced. This is a much larger hoard than could he 

 produced from anv tree that we know of. It is said to con- 

 tain sufficient material to construct three hve-room hungalows. 

 This remarkahle hoard was m;ide from sugarcane, or rather 

 from the refuse, of the cane after the sugar has heen ex- 

 tracted. Sugar-cane refuse, known as hagasse, consists of 

 the fihrous material of the plant and is very similar to the 

 fiher from which paper is made. In making hagasse luniher 

 the lil)er is put through processes similar to those emi)loyed 

 in making paper. The new luml)er is said to he \ cry light, 

 waterj)roof and an e.xcellent non-conductor of heat. I']) to 

 .the present, refuse sugar cane has heen of little use and is 



